TOP STORIES

 
Smithfield Settles Lawsuits Over Noise, Smell of Hog Farms in North Carolina 

Chinese-owned pork producer Smithfield Foods Inc. settled a series of lawsuits with dozens of residents in rural North Carolina over the nuisance caused by living near hog farms run by company contractors. The settlement brings an end to more than two years of litigation over the noise and odors produced by traditional methods of hog farming, which include storing waste in open lagoons.

STORIES OF INTEREST

 
JBS USA Says It Will Cover All Worker Covid-19 Costs -- Market Talk 

10:40 ET - Beef and pork processor JBS USA says it will now cover 100% of employees' healthcare costs associated with diagnosis and treatment of Covid-19 for workers enrolled in its health plan. The move is retroactive to March 1 and also covers family members enrolled in the health plan as dependents, JBS says. The company has been shoring up defenses against the pandemic after infections spread widely through meatpacking plants in the springtime, sickening thousands of workers, killing dozens and leading to some shortages in supermarkets. (jacob.bunge@wsj.com; @jacobbunge)

 
Danish Economic and Political Damage Mounting From Mink Cull -- Market Talk 

1348 GMT - The economic damage to Denmark from the outbreak of Covid-19 in the country's mink farms is racking up, says Capital Economics. The government belatedly got the legal backing to cull the mink population this week, and farmers had until midnight on Thursday to comply. "The direct economic impact from the shutdown of the mink industry...is likely to subtract at least 0.7%-points from Danish GDP in 4Q." The political wrangling in Denmark has also shifted up a gear this week as the government didn't have the legal basis to order the cull of heathy animals. "The agriculture minister stepped down on Wednesday, but the opposition has accused Prime Minister Frederiksen of weaselling out of her responsibilities and have pelted her with calls to resign too."(dominic.chopping@wsj.com)

FUTURES MARKETS

 
Hogs Finish 3.7% Higher -- Market Talk 

15:56 ET - After dropping 4.3% Thursday, lean hog futures on the CME turn around Friday, finishing 3.7% higher at 65.35 cents per pound. The uptick in hog futures puts trading for the week marginally higher from where they started the week, and only slightly down from where they started the month from. Meanwhile, live cattle futures on the CME finish up 0.1% at $1.1065 per pound, with cattle futures down 1.2% for the week and marginally up from where they started the month. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

CASH MARKETS

 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Nov 20 
 
All figures are on a per-head basis. 
 
Date     Standard Margin       Estimated margin 
         Operating Index         at vertically - 
                             integrated operations 
 
Nov 20       +$ 34.29            +$ 38.25 
Nov 19       +$ 35.60            +$ 40.57 
Nov 18       +$ 32.83            +$ 36.87 
 
* Based on Iowa State University's latest estimated cost of production. 
A positive number indicates a processing margin above the cost of production of the animals. 
 
Beef-O-Meter 
This report compares the USDA's latest beef carcass composite 
values as a percentage of their respective year-ago prices. 
 
                                  Beef 
          For Today              Choice  101.5 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)      Select  100.5 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports 

Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Friday rose 65 cents per hundred pounds, to $238.35, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices rose $1.09 per hundred pounds, to $214.98. The total load count was 105. Wholesale pork prices fell $1.08, to $76.86 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 20, 2020 17:31 ET (22:31 GMT)